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A strong content marketing strategy helps you become visible within a particular industry. In turn, that visibility helps establish you as an industry expert. The result? Enhanced visibility and credibility pour directly into increased lead generation.

As with most things in life, you have to spend money in order to makemoney. Before you decide how to spend your marketing and business development dollars, it’s important to consider how you want to influence your verticals.

I’ve never had a business owner say to me, “I want to spend money to market to my competitors.”

Don’t dilute the value of your marketing dollars.
Many companies, unfortunately, waste money by marketing to their own industry. Let’s use this example: you are an IT consultant and you get an article published on a site frequented by other IT consultants. It’s rewarding to get published, but in truth, your voice is absorbed into a black hole, along with the voices of other IT consultants who already know what you have to say.

In this case, you are spending money on good content, and your content is being seen, but you’re not reaching the right vertical market. The result is a lack of influence. This example, by the way, is applicable to every industry.

Invest in a 4-part content marketing solution.
The best approach to content marketing is to write for one end-user niche, or one vertical market, at a time. This vertical approachto content marketing results in a consistent message that makes it easier for your audience to envision how your service is their solution. From my experience, when you focus on vertical marketing content, you will be sharing knowledge with an audience that few others have tapped.

Following are four important components of a successful content marketing strategy:

Identify your vertical markets. A good first step is to target one vertical. This allows you to refine your message and create enough visibility to make an impact. Once you have established a foothold in one industry, you can more easily adjust your existing content for alternate vertical markets.

Repurpose your content. Achieving content visibility through print or online channels is a definite win and a great first step. What you do from there, however, matters just as much. The key is to use that content again and again, through social media, on various blog channels, on your website, as a part of an email marketing campaign, or as a webinar resource. Make sure that your content strategy specifically addresses how the value of your content can be s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d!

Engage a content marketing expert who does more than write well. Partner with a professional who can provide a comprehensive content strategy.in addition to producing top-notch content.

Trust the process. When a new restaurant doesn’t deliver what you expect on the first visit, you can quickly write it off as a bad spend. The same cannot be said of content marketing. Give your strategy time to work and your audience the opportunity to absorb why you are the answer to their problem.

Ready to learn more about influencing your vertical markets? Take a look at my content portfolio, and then give me a call at 412-352-4830 or email me atKathy@KathySerenko.com. I would love to talk with you!